God has Visited His People.”


Today's Mass Readings

In today’s Gospel reading, we find one of a number of examples of Jesus raising the dead. The most famous example of Jesus raising the dead, apart from His own resurrection of course, is Lazarus. The Gospels inform us that Jesus raised the dead on a number of occasions. Now, these raisings are more like resuscitations than actual resurrections, because all of those raised, like this young man and like Lazarus, have to physically die again. But that does not change the fact that they had already died, and Jesus actually brings them back to life. At one level, these events point to our own future resurrections. At yet another level, they show all of us, as well as the original audience, what power Jesus has; He has the divine power to raise from the dead, because He is God. More important than these resuscitations, however, is Jesus’ own resurrection. Since Jesus has been raised from the dead, we too can look forward to our resurrection where we will be united with Christ in heaven.

We are already united with Christ here on earth, particularly through the Eucharist. In a sense, then, the Eucharist is already a reflection and a sign pointing to our future resurrection with Christ. When we receive the Eucharist, we are receiving the resurrected glorified body and blood of our Lord. This is cause for joy. Death does not have the final say in our lives, rather we have hope in the resurrection brought about by Christ.